Hogwarts Scandal
by EvilMack
Summary: Oliver Wood NEEDS to win this year's Quidditch Cup, but exactly how far is he willing to go? (New Title, new look!)
1. The Plan

Authors Note: These were originally chapters 1 2 and 3 but ever since my ACCOUNT WAS DELETED (thankyou ff.net *glares*) I have had to re-do everything so…enjoy.  
  
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Harry Potter woke up in the Gryffindor Boy's dormitory, the blurry light flashing off of his eyes. He grabbed his glasses from the side table and put them on, the room now adjusting. The only person still sleeping was Neville Longbottom. He got out of bed and walked to the window. He looked across the grounds that reached to the dark forest, and thought about the next three days.  
  
No one knew exactly why, but the classes for the next three days were cancelled.  
  
The first of three days without classes, homework, and best of all, Snape. Harry thought. He smiled at this thought and walked over to his trunk and got dressed.  
  
As he made his way out of the dorm, he saw Ron in the common room and said hello to him. Ron responded with a "Hey" and a smile. Together they made their way down the hallway, going to the great hall for all day breakfast.  
  
"Find out why they gave us these three days off?" asked Harry.  
  
"Nothing." Ron replied. "It's like some huge secret." Harry shrugged as they started to make their way down the staircases to the Great Hall. As they entered, Ron noticed Hermione, but Harry couldn't help but notice Oliver Wood, talking to two other people, who looked like other fourth years. He couldn't really see their faces, but he was pretty sure that one was a boy and one was a girl. He wasn't far from Hermione, so they both walked over to her, but instead of listening to what Ron and Hermione were saying, he tried to hear what Oliver was saying to the two.  
  
"Come on! You can get them so easily!" He said, his usually kind, Scottish-accented voice had gone into a pleading voice.  
  
"I don't think so, Ollie." The girl said, she also had a Scottish accent.  
  
"Seriously, you expect us to risk our jobs for your stupid team?" The boy said, who also had a Scottish accent.  
  
"Well, I…"Oliver began, but then he saw Harry. He grabbed Harry by the shoulder, and pulled him to the three. "This is our seeker, Harry Potter." Oliver said it in such a way that it was special, accenting Harry's name.  
  
"And this is supposed to change our minds?" The boy asked. Oliver's eyes widened.  
  
"Do you not know who this is?" he asked, motioning towards Harry.  
  
"Yeah, so?" The girl said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"He's the one who escaped from You-Know-Who when he was little, and apparently since then he's been saving the…" Oliver began, but was interrupted by the boy.  
  
"Yes, Oliver, we said we know who he is, not for his life story." He said boredly.  
  
"You won't even do it for Harry Potter?" He said, again accenting his name.  
  
"Why would we?" the boy said.  
  
"Because he's Harry Potter!" Oliver repeated.  
  
"Yes, we understood that." The girl said. Harry finally spoke up.  
  
"Uh…what are you guys talking about?" He asked.  
  
"Oh, right. Harry, these are my cousins Colin and Lindsay." Oliver said. "They just transferred here from another school."  
  
"Pleased to meet you." Harry said, sticking out his hand to shake. The two just looked at him, glancing between Harry's hand and his face. Harry brought his hand back slowly, a little embarrassed.  
  
"Anyway, they work at the Nimbus Broomsticks shop," Oliver began again. "And I just want them to…borrow, a couple of the Nimbus Three Thousands that are coming out next month for the Quidditch Championships this week. Harry had heard of the Nimbus Three Thousand. It apparently was fast and more agile than the Nimbus Two Thousand, which Harry owned.  
  
"And by borrowing, he means stealing." Lindsay said.  
  
"Like you have a problem with stealing." Oliver shot back.  
  
"I have a problem with it when I know it could lead to me being fired, or thrown in jail." Colin argued.  
  
"Come on!" Oliver argued back. "I'll owe you."  
  
"You already owe us for getting you those tests last year." Lindsay said. Oliver motioned towards Harry, as if telling them to keep it quiet. Harry tried to act cool about it. "Don't worry, I won't tell." He said.  
  
"We'll think about it Oliver, but its probably a no." Colin said, as the two got up, grabbing their bags and walking out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Great, we've got the brooms." Oliver said. "You don't worry about it. Forget this happened." Harry was confused, but guessed that Oliver probably knew them enough to know that they would.  
  
That evening, Harry awoke to a noise downstairs in the Gryffindor Common Room. He got up out of his bed, grabbed his glasses and put on his robe. He put his legs over the side of his four poster bed and slipped his feet into the white slippers on the floor. He got up, tied the robe rope in front of him and walked towards the door quietly, not wanting to wake anyone.  
  
He went out the door and down the stairs to the balcony above the common room. He looked down and saw Oliver, Hermione, Colin and Lindsay all sitting together looking at a large thing that looked a little like blueprints.  
  
"You'll need to get him about a mile away." Colin said.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll just pull out my wand and pretend I used the wrong spell." Hermione replied. She flipped her hair over her shoulders and pointed at a spot far away from the box they had originally been pointing to.  
  
"I can get him this far with the spell, but that's it." Hermione said.  
  
"That'll give us about 10 minutes." Said Lindsay "That's not enough."  
  
"That's plenty." Colin said.  
  
Lindsay looked over at Oliver "You'll be waiting outside, right?"  
  
"Right." Oliver nodded.  
  
Harry crouched down behind the staircase. He watched them as they went over a plan for something for another ten minutes, until they started to pack away the items they were using. That was when Harry sneaked up the stairs and back into his bed. He went to sleep thinking about it.  
  
The next morning, Harry didn't bother waiting for Ron, and just went down to the Great Hall where he found Hermione, eating a stack of 5 pancakes and surrounded by about 8 or 9 books. He walked over and looked at the top heading on one of them, which read 'Transportation'. Hermione looked over her shoulder and saw Harry, snapping all of her books shut.  
  
"Private homework." She said. Harry nodded and sat down beside her, taking a plate and putting on 3 pancakes. He looked around the near-empty Great Hall. The only people that were in there were about 5 or 6 other Ravenclaws and about 3 Hufflepuffs. The Slytherin table was strangely empty, but Harry figured they were all still sleeping.  
  
He was used to Hermione telling him almost everything that was really important, but about last night in the Common Room, she didn't even speak a word of it. Harry decided to ask himself.  
  
"I saw you up with Oliver and his cousins last night in the Common Room," Harry said "What was that all about?"  
  
Hermione shook her head casually.  
  
"Just helping Oliver with some homework. You really shouldn't worry yourself about it." she replied, calmly.  
  
"What were those blueprints for then?" Harry asked. Hermione's eyes opened widely for a moment, but then went back to being calm.  
  
"His project was to do Hogwarts Castle History." She said "We were just using that as a basis."  
  
Harry's scar burned with anger. He hated being lied to. He nodded and shoved a whole pancake in his mouth to stop himself from yelling out that he had heard them.  
  
"Careful Harry," Hermione said, "You might choke."  
  
Harry headed down an empty stone hallway after breakfast that day. He sighed and sat on a pair of stairs that led up to the third floor, which was out of bounds. He sighed and put his elbows on his knees and put his chin in his hands. He was about to get up and leave when he heard footsteps coming down from the third floor. He turned quickly and saw another member of the Quidditch team, Katie Bell.  
  
"Oh," she said, as she tried to hide something in her hand behind her back "Hello, Harry."  
  
"Hey Katie," he replied "What were you doing upstairs?"  
  
"Oh, got lost." She said and smiled.  
  
"Are you on it too?" Harry demanded as he stood up and looked at her. Katie seemed a bit surprised.  
  
"Sorry Harry," Katie said, "I didn't know you were aware of it all. I was just grabbing this potion for the lightweight spell."  
  
"Huh?" Harry said, confused.  
  
"You mean…you're not in?" Katie looked at him funny.  
  
"No! What's it all about, Katie?"  
  
"I'm not supposed to say." She said quickly and walked past him and down the hallway. Harry grumbled, frustrated and followed after her, but decided not to ask her about it again. It would do no good.  
  
That afternoon Harry went for a walk around the grounds and met up with Ron.  
  
"Where have you been?" Ron asked.  
  
"Trying to figure something out." Harry replied, and cut straight to the chase. "Do you know anything about what Oliver and Hermione are up to?"  
  
"No." Ron said, "I didn't know they were up to anything."  
  
"Well, they are" Harry said, sighing.  
  
"You think they're dating? Is that what you think? Harry?" Ron questioned, turning and facing Harry  
  
"Calm yourself, Ron." Harry said, putting his hands on Ron's shoulders. "And no, that's not what I think."  
  
"Then, what do you think?" Ron asked, calming down.  
  
"I think it has something to do with Oliver's cousins and broomsticks." Harry replied.  
  
"Hm…" Ron thought about what he had just said "Have you asked them about it?"  
  
"I asked Katie." Harry said, sitting on the ground and leaning against the castle wall. "She wouldn't talk about it."  
  
"Another big secret." Said Ron. Harry sighed and nodded.  
  
"Any word on these days off yet?" Harry asked.  
  
"Nope." Ron said "But, I heard we're getting an extra day off because something went missing in the building. Some potion that's really important."  
  
Harry thought about it, and his thoughts went back to Katie coming down the steps and talking about some lightweight potion.  
  
"What's the potion for?" Harry asked.  
  
"Something that makes people so lightweight, they'll eventually rise out of the earth and die unless they're held back." Ron replied "Or so I've heard."  
  
Harry's eyes widened and he jumped up and ran towards the castle doors, Ron yelling after him. 


	2. Found Out

Oliver walked down the hallway of the school, smiling as usual, as if everything was normal. There were about a million things going on in his head. He knew he hadn't always been the perfect child his parents thought he was, but robbing a broom shop? Even that was out of his league. He saw Katie walking up ahead of him. He looked around the hallway to make sure no one else was around and then stopped when they were about to pass each other.  
  
"Did you get it?" he asked her. Katie looked around the hallway as well and then pulled a small bottle out of her pocket. Oliver grinned widely and took it as she handed it over.  
  
"You're the best." He said.  
  
"I'm doing this for the team, Oliver." She reminded him. Oliver nodded, not really meaning anything else.  
  
"We have a problem." Katie continued.  
  
"What's that?" Oliver asked.  
  
"I…kind of ran into Harry on my way down from the third floor." She said, ashamed as her voice lowered to a whisper.  
  
"What?" Oliver's eyes widened. "Well, what happened?"  
  
"I sort of told him what the bottle was for." Katie continued on about what just happened.  
  
"What!?" Oliver was shocked.  
  
"You never told me who was in on this!" she exclaimed.  
  
"I certainly wouldn't have told Harry!" Oliver shouted as much as he could in a whisper.  
  
"Hey, I got you the potion, that was my part. I never said anything about keeping secrets." Katie said. She didn't really mean it; she was just trying to cover for herself.  
  
"It comes without saying, Katie!" Oliver said "When I say 'Don't tell anyone' I mean it!"  
  
"You should have thought twice about what we're dealing with here, Oliver." Katie said. There was a moment of silence between them. Katie watched Oliver, as he seemed to be deep in thought.  
  
"Well," she began "What are you going to do about Harry?"  
  
"I guess I'll have to let him in on it." Oliver said.  
  
"Oliver, no!" Katie yelled, coming out of the whisper.  
  
"There's no choice now. You're the one who screwed the whole procedure up." He said, going back to a whisper, hoping she'd catch on.  
  
"Well, it all goes downhill from here." Katie said.  
  
"Looks like it…" Oliver went back into one of his thoughtful looks.  
  
"Well, I'll see you at practise tonight." Katie said.  
  
"Yeah." Oliver responded, still in thought. Katie started down the hall and turned.  
  
"And Oliver?" she said. Oliver looked up at her. "Sorry. I know how much this meant to you." She smiled lightly and then walked off down the hall she had just come from. Oliver looked at the floor and then sat down, his back against the wall and thought about what he was going to say to Harry.  
  
When Oliver walked into the Great Hall at dinnertime, he saw Hermione looking at Harry as if she were explaining something. Harry looked serious, like he was demanding. Harry's back was turned, so when Hermione saw Oliver, her eyes widened a little bit and then started talking quickly to Harry as he began to walk over. When Oliver sat down one or two seats away from them, she started talking about Divination and such. Harry nodded and then continued to eat his dinner. Hermione glanced at Oliver quickly, and then began to eat as well. Oliver grabbed a bacon omelette from one of the trays and began to eat it when he saw Colin and Lindsay at the end of the table. He picked up his plate and goblet, which was empty, and walked over to them and sat across from the two.  
  
"Have you heard what those two are talking about?" he asked immediately.  
  
"Heard who talking about what?" Lindsay asked, and then took a sip of her water.  
  
"Harry and Hermione." Oliver replied. The three of them looked over at Hermione and Harry, who immediately looked at their plates, which showed they had been watching them.  
  
"Hm. Looks like they're up to something." Colin said sarcastically.  
  
"Way to state the obvious." Lindsay said as she popped a piece of bacon into her mouth. Colin mumbled something as a spark came from under the table and the rest of Lindsay's cheese omelette popped legs and a head and took the shape of a frog, which jumped on her lap. Lindsay automatically took her wand and started zapping Colin's food into mice and rats.  
  
Oliver, getting frustrated pulled out his wand and waved it and said "Shirilious Marcosis." And the two's wands disappeared from sight.  
  
"Hey! Give us our wands back!" Lindsay yelled.  
  
"Stop being fools and I'll think about it." Oliver said as the two glared at him. "Now did you hear them talking about anything?"  
  
"Oliver, if we didn't know who you were talking about, its obvious we weren't listening." Lindsay said.  
  
"Or caring, for that matter." Colin added on. Oliver glared at the two and waved his wand again and said "Shirilious Farcosis." And their wands appeared again.  
  
"Harry knows." Oliver said.  
  
"What!?" Lindsay yelled. Oliver motioned for her to keep it down and they leaned in together.  
  
"Its Katie's fault. She thought he was in on it, so she started telling him about the potion." Oliver said.  
  
"That bloody…" Lindsay started, but Colin smacked her in the back of the head lightly to get her to stop.  
  
"Better watch what you're saying about Oliver's girlfriend." Colin said.  
  
"She's not my girlfriend!" Oliver exclaimed.  
  
"Suuure, she isn't." Lindsay said.  
  
"She's not!" Oliver repeated.  
  
"Then why are you constantly spending so much time together?" Lindsay argued.  
  
"We're both on the bloody team together, we have to spend time together." Oliver argued back.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Colin said, putting a hand between their faces. "I didn't mean to get in to this, we're way off topic."  
  
"Right," Oliver said, "Well, do you think we should get him to help?"  
  
"Absolutely not!" Colin said strongly.  
  
"Yeah, that completely defeats the purpose of a secret." Lindsay said.  
  
"Well, what do you want me to about it? He knows, and I think Granger is telling him all about it." Oliver said. Once again they all looked over. This time the fact that Harry and Hermione were watching wasn't as apparent, but still visible.  
  
"Wow, great job hiding that they weren't watching." Colin said sarcastically.  
  
"You know, they'd make a cute couple." Lindsay said.  
  
"Is that all you think about?" Colin asked challengingly.  
  
"Hey hey, off topic again." Oliver said.  
  
"Sorry, we change the subject if it's too boring." Lindsay said.  
  
"Yeah, same here." Oliver said.  
  
"Must be genetic." Colin added. They all grinned a bit and then went right back to where they were.  
  
"Well, I personally don't think we should let Harry help. I mean…look at him. He's got nark written all over him!" Lindsay said.  
  
"Agreed." Colin said.  
  
"Well, you two come up with some idea to get it out of his head because I'm fresh out of brilliance." Oliver said. It wasn't long before Colin said the first thing that came to mind.  
  
"A spell?"  
  
"Magic?" Lindsay asked, then thought about it for a moment. "Do you know any spells for that kind of thing?"  
  
"No magic!" Oliver exclaimed.  
  
"Why the hell not?" Colin demanded an answer.  
  
"Because we're not good enough at magic for that!" Oliver responded.  
  
"Well, it's our idea, so we're sticking to it or else we're 'Out of brilliance' too." Lindsay said, mimicking Oliver.  
  
"We'll see. It might actually turn out that that's what we'll need to do." Oliver said. He gulped down the rest of his bacon omelette, a piece of bacon sticking out of his mouth.  
  
"Oh, wow. Now that's attractive." Lindsay said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, at first I was jealous, but now I see the light. This is why you're such the ladies man." Colin sarcastically said.  
  
Oliver gave them a sarcastic smile and stuck his tongue out with chewed up bacon omelette on it.  
  
"Looks absolutely delicious. Really it does." Colin said, again, sarcastically. Oliver grinned, grabbed Lindsay's goblet, chugged it to wash down the rest of the omelette and walked off, Colin and Lindsay laughing behind him. 


	3. The Dark Mark

Colin walked down the stone hallway. Over his ears he had a set of Muggle earphones and was listening to some hard-rock Muggle music. He walked through the crowd until he saw Hermione heading upstairs to where the Gryffindor dormitories and common room were. He followed, taking off the earphones and putting them around his neck. He saw her turn the corner to go up the stairs and he caught up, still staying behind her. As the two made their way up the stairs, Colin saw her go into the common room, the Lady in the Pink Dress swinging to the side. Colin walked up to the same portrait and said "Fiddlesticks.", the picture sliding to the side. He walked through the tunnel to the cozy common room where he saw Hermione, pulling something from her bag.  
  
Colin walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. Hermione tried to scream, but Colin covered her mouth with one hand and used his other hand to bring one finger to his lips, motioning for her to be quiet. She stopped and looked at him as Colin removed his hand.  
  
"What was that for?" Hermione questioned.  
  
"We all know you told Harry!" he yelled.  
  
"He already knew everything!" Hermione yelled back.  
  
"And where there were gaps, you filled them. Am I right?" Colin demanded, his face very serious and angry.  
  
"Well, yes." she said truthfully.  
  
"Why!?" Colin yelled, as if he didn't want to hear her say it.  
  
"I think he can help us!" she exclaimed.  
  
"You watch what you're saying, Hermione, or you might need to be silenced like Harry." Colin threatened.  
  
"Silenced like Harry?" Hermione didn't understand "What do you mean?"  
  
"His brain has to be cleared of the things you told him, and everything Katie told him." Colin explained.  
  
"What!? No!" Hermione said strongly.  
  
"It needs to be done. You and Katie have put us right back where we started." Colin said.  
  
"You do anything to Harry I'm going straight to Dumbledore!" Hermione warned. Colin whipped out his wand and started to say something when Oliver appeared in the tunnel and said,  
  
"Colin, Quit it." Colin looked at him and said "She'll go to Dumbledore!" Oliver shrugged.  
  
"We'll see." He said calmly. Colin put his wand away and left.  
  
"Oliver, this wasn't part of the deal!" Hermione yelled.  
  
"Don't worry. I won't let them. But I don't think Harry should be in on this." Oliver said.  
  
"Why not? He's smart and capable." Hermione argued.  
  
"And he's also very honest." Oliver said, "That's not something we want for this."  
  
"But, Oliver…" Hermione protested.  
  
"But nothing. He's not joining in." Oliver said.  
  
"We'll see." Said Hermione as Oliver turned and walked out.  
  
Harry was awoken by a noise in the boy's dormitory. He looked up and saw Oliver, who doesn't sleep in the 4th year's dormitory (obviously), talking to Colin. Colin was wearing a black t-shirt and sweatpants. Oliver was wearing a white wife-beater and a pair of black tearaways. Oliver finished saying something and Colin jumped out of bed and they both left. Harry immediately jumped up and was about to head out the door when he thought of something. He quickly walked back, opened his trunk and pulled out the invisibility cloak. He put it over him and walked out the door. He saw Lindsay, Colin, Hermione, Katie and Oliver standing in the common room. Katie was telling Hermione something and then all of a sudden they all left. Harry of course followed.  
  
He saw them walked down the corridor, like nothing could stop them. It was extremely dark so Colin whipped out his wand and said, "Lumos" and the tip of his wand lighted. They stopped at the end off a hallway that had a door that led out onto a balcony. They all went out it and stood there. Harry quickly tiptoed down the hall and went out onto the balcony with them to hear what they were saying.  
  
"Are you sure this will work?" Oliver asked. Colin and Lindsay both nodded.  
  
"They won't make anyone go to their classes if they see this." Lindsay said.  
  
"Yeah, good thinking, Hermione." Katie said. Hermione smiled.  
  
"Okay, here it goes." Lindsay said. She and Colin both pulled out their wands and brought their hands up so their two pointer fingers were touching. They put their wands in the air, waved them and said, "Morsmordre". In the sky, something flashed like a silent firework and in a moment, the 'Dark Mark' appeared. Harry's mouth opened wide.  
  
They started back towards the common room quickly when they saw Filch up ahead. They at once split up and hid behind stone pillars.  
  
"What're we going to do?" Lindsay said desperately.  
  
"I know!" Katie exclaimed. She pulled out her wand, waved it and pointed in the direction of Filch and said "Tarantallegra". The moment she did this, Filch started to dance and ended up dancing down a separate hallway. They continued walking and saw Mrs. Norris, Filch's faithful cat. Oliver groaned.  
  
"I hate that cat." He said. He pulled out his own wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa" and Mrs. Norris rose up into the air. Oliver grinned at his own brilliance and shoved it hard in the side, it flying away from them and falling down the staircase.  
  
"Good one." Colin said.  
  
"I try." Oliver said jokingly. They continued to walk. Harry followed slowly behind.  
  
When he eventually got to the common room, the fire was put out and no one was in sight. He walked up the stairs slowly and entered the dormitory extremely quietly. He wondered how they could all go through with such a thing. He took off the cloak and placed it neatly back in his trunk. He carefully went to the top of his bed. He took off his glasses and sat on the side of his bed.  
  
From across the room, Colin watched as Harry put his feet up and pulled the covers over him, a glare on his face. 


	4. Two Wannabe's and a Mudblood

"I'm telling you! He was there!" Colin said at breakfast the next morning. The rumour of the Dark Mark in the sky had gone around about 10 times already, the story changing after each person heard it. Right now, people were saying that The Bloody Baron did it with help from Hagrid, but barely anyone believed any of it.  
  
"There's no way he could have seen us without us seeing him." Oliver said.  
  
"Well…" Hermione started. Everyone looked at her. "He has an invisibility cloak."  
  
"He does?" Lindsay said, "Thanks for the warning."  
  
"I didn't think of it!" Hermione said, trying to defend herself.  
  
"Well, if he was invisible, how do you know he was there?" Oliver asked Colin.  
  
"He came in right after I did and put something in his trunk and went to bed." Colin recalled.  
  
"The cloak, I'm guessing." Katie chimed in. They all sat there for a moment in silence.  
  
"So," Hermione started, "I guess we'll have to let him in."  
  
"I guess so." Said Oliver.  
  
"What!?" Colin, Lindsay and Katie all said simultaneously.  
  
"What else are we going to do!?" Oliver yelled.  
  
Lindsay and Colin looked at each other and Lindsay pulled out a paper and handed it to Oliver. Oliver unfolded it and looked at the title. It said "Forgetting Spell".  
  
"No!" Oliver said, "If we did this incorrectly, he could forget everything."  
  
"Including how to play Quidditch, which would make this plan completely pointless." Katie said, as if she was just thinking clearly at that moment. Oliver looked at Katie and then nodded to the rest of them.  
  
"Exactly." Was all he could say.  
  
"So, this means he's in, right?" Hermione asked.  
  
"I'll think about it." said Oliver. At that, Colin and Lindsay stood up and walked away.  
  
"Oh, we don't need them." Said Hermione.  
  
"For a brain, you're pretty naive." Oliver said. "We need them to be in the shop tomorrow night."  
  
  
  
Harry and Ron stood beside an empty classroom, knowing they were being watched from about a metre or two away by Malfoy and Company. But Harry and Ron were shocked when they looked down the hall. As if the fight never happened, not that they'd know, Colin, Lindsay and Hermione walked down the hall as if they were royalty. People parted in front of them, seeing as the three were all stretched across the entire hallway. Malfoy and his little gathering of people watched them.  
  
"Oh, look." Malfoy said, "Two wannabe wizards and a mudblood." His little groupies started laughing loudly.  
  
"Wannabe's and a mudblood?" Lindsay said. Malfoy nodded coolly.  
  
"Malfoy, what's that on your face?" Hermione asked, just as coolly. Malfoy started feeling around his face frantically.  
  
"There's nothing on my face!" he finally figured out.  
  
"Oh?" Colin said as he pulled out his wand. He waved it in the air and said "Furnuculus" and pointed it at Malfoy. Immediately, boils started popping up all over his face and hands. "How about now?"  
  
"What did you do!?" Malfoy screamed. He covered his face and ran away.  
  
The three smiled slightly, but their smiles faded as Snape approached.  
  
"Magic in the hallways, eh?" he said, half smiling, half scowling at them. He grabbed away their wands and said 'Follow me.' The three did what they were told and they followed Snape on their way to see Dumbledore.  
  
Harry knew that Hermione didn't really like Colin or Lindsay, and would NEVER under ANY circumstances break school rules. He didn't know what had come over her, but he knew one thing; he was going to find out. He and Ron followed behind them until they went into Dumbledore's office, and they sat on the ground just outside it and waited.  
  
  
  
Inside, the three were sitting in three chairs, lined in front of Dumbledore's desk, where he sat. Snape stood in front of the door, behind the three and facing Dumbledore.  
  
Dumbledore looked up at the three, glancing up at Snape.  
  
"So, Professor Snape here tells me you used a spell on young Malfoy, hm?" Dumbledore said.  
  
"Yes, I did." Colin said.  
  
"And, did these two help you?" he asked, motioning towards the girls.  
  
"No." Colin said.  
  
"We just signalled for him to." Hermione said.  
  
"Using what, Ms. Granger? A flare?" Snape chimed in.  
  
"Severus, please." Dumbledore said. Snape leaned against the door again.  
  
"Why did you do it?" Dumbledore said, looking back to the students.  
  
"He called Hermione a Mudblood, sir." Lindsay said. Dumbledore seem most distraught by the word and looked at Hermione.  
  
"Did he?" he asked. Hermione nodded. Dumbledore's face changed back to its normal, kind one.  
  
"Even so, using magic in the hallways is very dangerous." He continued.  
  
"It was a racist comment. We're aloud to react, I'd think." Colin said.  
  
"Not in a way that could possibly injure innocent people passing by." Dumbledore said.  
  
The three just looked at him, not nervous or anything. Not even Hermione.  
  
"Very well. You are dismissed." He said eventually.  
  
"But, Headmaster!" Snape shouted.  
  
"That's enough Severus. My decision is made." Dumbledore said, putting up his hand. Snape moved to the side as the three got up and left. They didn't notice Harry and Ron, so the two decided to follow them. The echo of the stone hallway made the three's voices seem like they were standing right beside Harry and Ron.  
  
"Will that spell work on the shopkeeper?" Lindsay asked Hermione.  
  
"It should. He should be out of the way right away."  
  
Harry automatically wondered what spell they were talking about when he thought about that lightweight potion. They were going to kill the shopkeeper!?  
  
"Oliver still has the potion, right?" Colin asked.  
  
"Yep." Lindsay responded.  
  
Harry had to get to Oliver. 


	5. Speechless?

Oliver walked down the hallway slowly, his head in a book about charms for class. He was just getting onto the charm to summon objects to your hand when he heard running behind him. He turned and saw Harry Potter running up the corridor. Oliver was just about to say hello when Harry yelled out, "You're going to kill the shopkeeper!?"  
  
Oliver quickly pulled out his wand and waved it, Harry's lips disappearing and melting to become just some more over his face. Harry made wails and muffled yells as Oliver grabbed him and shoved him into an empty classroom, following him in. Once they were inside, Oliver waved his wand again, his mouth appearing again.  
  
"Why did you do that!?" screamed Harry.  
  
"Want me to do it again, I see." Oliver threatened. Harry shook his head and apologised.  
  
"Now, what was that you were yelling down the hallway for all to hear?" Oliver asked calmly.  
  
"I heard Hermione and Colin and Lindsay talking about a spell to get rid of them, and I know about that potion, Oliver! The one Katie got!" Harry blurted out.  
  
"Careful, Harry. You go around so the others hear that you know, and you'll be in trouble." Oliver warned.  
  
"Why would I be in trouble?" Harry asked.  
  
"They don't think you should be in on this, and truthfully, Harry, the way you're acting right now doesn't really make me want you in on it either." Oliver said.  
  
"In on what!? Your murder!?" yelled Harry.  
  
Oliver pointed his wand at Harry.  
  
"No! No! I'll stop!" said Harry, his hands out in front of him.  
  
"First of all Harry, I don't know where you got the idea we're killing anyone. We're not." Oliver said.  
  
"Then why were they saying that?" Harry asked.  
  
"Maybe they knew you were listening?" Oliver guessed.  
  
"I doubt it."  
  
"Well, whatever they were saying, they're wrong. We're not killing anyone…unless…" Oliver said, and then looked at Harry, as if the 'unless' was directed to him.  
  
"Whoa, Oliver. Just calm down." Harry said. Oliver's straight face turned into a smile and he laughed.  
  
"I'm just foolin' with you, Harry." Oliver said. Harry let out a sigh of relief.  
  
"Well, what's the second of all?" Harry asked.  
  
"Since you know so much, we will need you…" Oliver said.  
  
"But I don't want any part of this!" Harry admitted.  
  
"Then you shouldn't have snooped around in it." Oliver said.  
  
"Meet us in the common room at 2am. Any earlier, and Filch'll still be awake. Any later, teachers will be waking up." Oliver ordered. He put his hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "If you screw this up for us, you are as good as dead."  
  
With that, Oliver walked out of the room, his book under his shoulder. Harry stood there for a moment, puzzled. He didn't really think about what had just happened, but he stood there and thought about it for a moment before leaving as well. 


	6. Not such a good idea after all?

Harry woke up silently at 2am to the sound of his personal alarm clock. He was the only one that could hear it buzz and Harry jumped up and turned it off. He looked across the room and saw Colin's bed was already empty. He reached for his glasses and put them on. He carefully slid out of bed and got dressed silently, not sure what they were going to be doing. He looked around and grabbed his wand from his robes, shoving it in his back pocket. He walked across the room and opened the door that led out to the common room. He walked down the steps and saw the five of them standing there around a table talking.  
  
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, smiling.  
  
"And what the hell is this!?" yelled Colin, looking at Oliver.  
  
At the yelling, Hermione and Katie looked at the door that led from the dormitories, hoping no one woke up.  
  
"Look, Colin, he already knows everything!" Oliver argued, "There's no point pretending he doesn't!"  
  
Colin automatically pulled out his wand.  
  
"We can fix that. I've been practising the forget spell all week." He said, walking towards Harry. Harry looked at Oliver frantically. Oliver walked over quickly and reached for Colin's shoulder, but Colin turned quickly and grabbed his hand and kicked him in the stomach, sending him backwards. Lindsay caught him, but held him back.  
  
"There's no other way, Oliver!" she yelled, trying to hold onto him. Oliver grabbed her arm and put pressure on it, making her let go.  
  
He got up and ran at Colin, who was raising his wand. Before he could do anything, he saw Hermione's hand come up and grab Colin's wand first, and he felt another pair of hands on him. One on his chest and one on his arm, holding him back. He looked over and it was Katie. She looked at him and he heard Colin yelling at Hermione to give his wand back.  
  
"Now how the hell are we supposed to do this if we're already at each other's throats!?" Hermione yelled out. Harry's eyes widened. He had never heard Hermione use any profanities before, and never thought he would.  
  
Oliver heard Katie's soft voice in his ear.  
  
"Calm down." She said, "Just breathe for a minute."  
  
Oliver glared at Colin. Colin just stared back with his same challenging face.  
  
"Whatever." Colin said. He walked up the stairs to the dormitories again.  
  
"You don't think he'll do anything rash do you?" Oliver asked Lindsay.  
  
"What? You mean like tell someone?" Lindsay asked. She received a nod. She shook her head.  
  
"Probably not. You're family too, so you should know as well as I." She replied. Oliver looked at her for a minute and then watched where Colin had just walked. Harry stood there beside Hermione blankly, as if the last few events had been a dream or something.  
  
"Okay, lets run over this one more time." Oliver said and they all gathered around a piece of paper, the blueprint from before. They ran through it smoothly. Harry had a problem with their escape. They were supposed to fly away on the new brooms.  
  
"What if our fingerprints get on it?" Harry asked.  
  
"Stuff it, Potter." Lindsay said. "We're going to wear undetectable clothing and gloves."  
  
Harry looked at Lindsay weakly. Oliver gave Lindsay a glare and then they all ran through the rest of it.  
  
"I'm going to go talk to Colin." Said Lindsay. Hermione looked at them and nodded. "I'll go too." Hermione added. The two headed up the stairs, leaving Oliver, Katie and Harry all alone in the room.  
  
"Remember, Harry." Oliver said, "We're taking a risk on letting you in on this. You do anything wrong, we'll never trust you with anything again."  
  
Katie looked at Harry with seriousness. She sighed and stretched.  
  
"Well, I'm off to bed." She said.  
  
"I'll walk you there?" Oliver said. Katie nodded. Harry smirked, the boys and girls dormitories not being that far away from each other. The two left, and Harry packed up the blueprints and went upstairs. Colin wasn't there again and he noticed his trunk was open. Harry looked around frantically, but he could tell no one was there. He sighed and sat on the floor, waiting for them to return…they never did. 


	7. Almost Romance

Oliver and Katie walked as quietly as possible up to the door in front of the Gryffindor Girls' dormitories. They stood there, moonlight pouring in from a window which faced the lake.  
  
"So," Katie said, "Do you really think letting Harry in on it was a good idea?"  
  
Oliver shrugged.  
  
"He already knew. What would you have me do?" he asked.  
  
"Well…there was the forgetting spell." Katie replied. She got a 'You-know- what-could-happen' look from Oliver and nodded.  
  
"Yes, yes, I know. He could forget how to play Quidditch." She said. Oliver grinned and nodded. Their eyes met and she looked deeply at him, receiving the same look back. Katie blinked rapidly and looked at the floor, her blushing face not showing up in the dim light.  
  
"Well," said Oliver, Katie looking up at him "I'd better get to bed."  
  
Katie nodded and reached up and gave him a hug. Oliver did something she wasn't used to. He kissed her cheek and then released the hug, smiling and walking off down the steps. Katie blushed and went into the girls' dormitory silently.  
  
* * *  
  
The next morning was cloudy. The fog rose up from the lake, covering the grounds with a moist mist. Colin woke up and looked around the dormitory, seeing everyone else asleep. Only a purpley-blue light shone through the small windows in the room, and Colin got up and dressed. He slowly and quietly made his way out of the dormitory and made his way down the stairs to the common room. Behind him he heard footsteps coming from the girls' dormitory and saw it was Lindsay. He gave her a half smile and she did the same back. Together, they walked out of the Gryffindor common room and down to the empty Great Hall.  
  
They sat down beside each other and Lindsay started to serve up her plate. Colin stretched his arm out on the table and put his chin on it tiredly. They heard the footsteps of another and looked over, seeing Oliver walking through the door and into the room. Lindsay smiled and Colin acknowledged him with a nod, obviously having cooled down from the night before. Oliver sat across from them and leaned on his elbow. The three sat there for a minute before anyone said anything.  
  
"Do you think this is the right thing to do?" Oliver asked.  
  
"No." said Colin, "But its what is going to be done."  
  
Lindsay nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, seriously, Oliver." Lindsay added. "If you wanted to 'do the right thing' then you should have just borrowed or bought the brooms. This was your idea."  
  
"Yeah, I know, I know." Oliver said, burying his face in his arms tiredly, his voice becoming muffled. "But maybe I'm having second thoughts."  
  
"Well, its too late now." Colin said. Oliver brought his head up and looked at the two and nodded.  
  
They heard more footsteps and soon, Katie appeared from the hallway. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, walking over and sitting beside Oliver.  
  
"Wow, what a little reunion we're having." Lindsay said. Katie grinned and grabbed a devilled egg and put it on her plate. Colin's hand reached out and grabbed a piece of bacon. They began to talk about that evening, and about other things such as family. Soon they almost forgot about the night ahead of them. Slowly, the Great Hall started to fill up. They had to stop talking after a very suspicious Neville Longbottom came and sat beside them. They got up and left and soon they were all sitting in the Gryffindor Common room. Slowly, the mist faded as the sun rose higher and it began to snow, surprisingly enough. It fell softly but covered the ground easily.  
  
Colin and Hermione had met up and walked outside together, as Lindsay saw from a window. Katie was sitting on the couch by the fire, working on homework and Oliver was off getting supplies for that evening. Lindsay sighed and walked over to a large armchair and stared out the window, watching the two.  
  
"He should be back by now." Said Lindsay.  
  
"Calm yourself." Said Katie, "He'll be back soon."  
  
"He'd better be." Replied Lindsay. Something then struck her and she walked over and sat in the armchair across from the couch and looked at Katie.  
  
"You and Oliver seemed very awkward this morning." She began. "What happened last night?"  
  
Katie looked up at her and blushed.  
  
"You really want to know?" she asked.  
  
"Yes! I really want to know." Lindsay replied.  
  
Katie was just about to begin her story when Oliver burst into the room, looking nervous and worried.  
  
"We have a problem." He said. 


	8. A Group of Students, Maybe?

Once Hermione and Colin were collected, they, Oliver, Lindsay and Katie made their way down to the Great Hall for an important assembly of the houses. They sat all together. Katie and Hermione on one side and Oliver, Colin and Lindsay on the other. They watched as Professor McGonagall made her way to the front and looked at all of the students.  
  
"Silence, please." She said, looking around seriously at the students. They all quieted down at once by her stare.  
  
"Now, as many of you know, there was a strange happening outside the school one night recently." She said, looking around. "And I would just like to say, that no, it was not the sign of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."  
  
There was a slight murmur in the crowd of students, but she tapped her wand against the podium she was standing in front of.  
  
"We have reason to believe either someone from the outside did it," she said, a whisper spreading throughout the crowd "Or, a group of students, maybe?"  
  
Oliver felt his stomach knot as Professor McGonagall glanced over at him. He tried to act surprised by lifting his eyebrows and looking at Katie the same way. She seemed nervous, even with her disguised face.  
  
Colin and Lindsay had their same expressionless faces on. Blank and uncaring. Hermione just sat there, looking at the table. She felt a sharp kick from Lindsay to look surprised. She looked up quickly and her mouth dropped open.  
  
'Brilliant' Oliver thought sarcastically.  
  
"Therefor," McGonagall continued, "The schools hallways will be patrolled on a regular basis by our staff, making sure no one is out of bed when they are not supposed to be."  
  
Colin glanced over at Oliver and then to Katie, a somewhat frustrated, but also worried look on his face.  
  
"That is all. You may return to your activities." Professor McGonagall said. The five of them got up quickly, and walked out together.  
  
They headed up the stairs and did not stop walking until they were inside the Gryffindor Common Room, and were sure they were alone.  
  
"How are we going to do this?" Katie said, worriedly.  
  
"I don't know," said Oliver, "But we need to figure it out quickly."  
  
"Maybe this is a sign," Hermione said, looking at all of them "Maybe we're not supposed to do this at all!"  
  
"Oh stop with the dramatics, Granger." Lindsay said. Hermione glared at Lindsay slightly.  
  
"I think she knows we did it." Colin said.  
  
"And how would she know that?" Oliver asked. Colin looked at them all for a moment before saying two words.  
  
"Harry Potter."  
  
"Oh, come off it, Colin!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry would never tell!"  
  
"Then you explain it!" Colin said. "First, we don't have Harry in on this and everything is going well. Then, Katie puts the whole thing out in the open, followed by Granger filling in the spaces, and then of course entry into the circle. Now all of a sudden we're in trouble? That's rather ironic, isn't it?"  
  
There was a slight silence in the room, everyone thinking about the sequence of events. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.  
  
"I still don't think he did it." she said boldly. Oliver glanced over at her, and saw Hermione's face. It had seemed like she didn't even believe the words that were escaping her lips anymore.  
  
"Well," Oliver said, "It does make some sense."  
  
"Finally, you come around." Colin said. Oliver shot him a look, telling him to stop but Colin glared back.  
  
"Do you think we should ask Harry?" Katie asked Oliver, glancing at him. Oliver shrugged.  
  
"I suppose so." He replied.  
  
"I volunteer!" Colin said, with an innocent smile on his face.  
  
"Funny." Oliver said sarcastically.  
  
"I'm serious," Colin said, "You are all way too easy on him."  
  
"That's because we don't want to scare him off." Katie chimed in.  
  
"Going to hold his hand through the robbery too, then, right?" Colin snapped at Katie. Oliver stepped in at this.  
  
"Katie's right." He said. "If we want any co-operation from Harry, we need him to trust us and…"  
  
Oliver was interrupted by the sound of the picture moving in the porthole. They all looked over and stepping out of it was none other than Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Oh," she said, "You're all together."  
  
Oliver gulped and watched the elderly teacher. If it was possible, her serious face turned into even more of a frown when she spoke.  
  
"All of you, come with me," she said, "Professor Dumbledore wants to speak with you." 


	9. Accusing Without Proof?

Their worried faces couldn't possibly be disguised as Professor McGonagall led the five down the hallways of the school. Lindsay, Hermione, Colin, Katie and Oliver, in that order, walked single file with their heads down, as if they were being led to their deaths. For all they knew they could be.  
  
As a bell rang, classes came out, seeing McGonagall leading them. They parted and curious whispers were sent through the hallway, watching the five students with wonder why they were being lead. Colin shot a spark at one of the laughing ones, but stopped at that person as McGonagall turned. They came across Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"About time they gave them the electric chair," he laughed, "See you when you repeat the grade, losers!"  
  
Colin wished he hadn't used that one free spark. McGonagall led them outside and up to a post where she said something and it opened, all five were lead down into the dark depths of it. Dumbledore's office was no longer a secret, as someone had told everyone what they had seen, and like all rumours, it was spread to every student in at least 15 minutes. Soon, they were lead into Dumbledore's actual office and faced him. It looked very much like his other one inside the school, but darker, only lit with candles.  
  
"Ah," he said, turning, "The five."  
  
McGonagall stood to the side of the room so the five, now stretched out horizontally across the office in front of his desk, were visible.  
  
"I had been waiting for this moment," he smiled lightly and looked at them over his half-moon glasses. He watched them all seriously before his gaze turned towards Colin and Lindsay.  
  
"Only a few days and already into trouble, hm?" he said. The two of them looked up at him in a half-glare, half-innocent look.  
  
"For what reason are we here, sir?" Lindsay asked in her most innocent of voices.  
  
"I think you know why," he said, "about that Dark Mark in the sky, who did that one?"  
  
They all frowned as if they had no idea what he was talking about. Dumbledore frowned.  
  
"I have a confirmation by Mr. Filch that you all were out of bed after hours the same night as the Dark Mark appeared." He said.  
  
Hermione glanced over at Colin, Colin sending her a look to act calm, and she did so, looking a bit worried at the sound of the word 'Dark Mark'.  
  
"So," said Katie, all of a sudden speaking, "You think we could have been in danger?"  
  
Dumbledore's kind face morphed into a glaring one at Katie,  
  
"No, Ms. Bell," he said, "I think you did it."  
  
"You're accusing without proof?" asked Katie, Oliver being surprised by this.  
  
"I told you that Mr. Filch saw you." Dumbledore snapped back.  
  
"So maybe we were out of bed after hours," said Colin, "But why would that mean we were the ones who did it? Anyone in 15 miles could have done it."  
  
"That's quite enough!" said McGonagall.  
  
"No, that's alright." Said Dumbledore, "If they want to keep denying it, and we somehow find out, they'll just be in more trouble than they are now."  
  
Hermione gulped, as did Oliver.  
  
"You are dismissed." Said Dumbledore. Colin and Lindsay smiled, but the others still looked nervous as they all single-filed walked out of the room and up the stairs outside again.  
  
"That went well," said Lindsay, smiling.  
  
"Well!?" Oliver exclaimed, "They said they know!"  
  
"Geez, Oliver," said Colin, "Don't have a seizure, they don't know anything, but you know, with your yelling they might soon enough."  
  
Oliver glared embarrassingly and they walked along until they were sure they were alone, under the bleachers of the Quidditch field.  
  
Colin hopped up so he was sitting on one bleacher, Lindsay reaching up and hanging off of it while Hermione sat and Katie leaned against a post, Oliver pacing.  
  
"What're we gonna do?" Oliver said, half to himself.  
  
"Calm down, Oliver," said Lindsay, "They have no proof yet."  
  
"YET! Exactly!" exclaimed Oliver.  
  
"Dun dun dunnnn," mumbled Colin.  
  
"Shut up!" Oliver yelled.  
  
"Oliver, its not that bad." Said Katie.  
  
"Not that bad?" Oliver said, "He thinks we're up to something and that means he's gonna be watching us, and waiting for us to do something."  
  
"Then we'll just have to be careful won't we?" said Lindsay.  
  
Oliver looked down at Hermione who was biting on her fingernails nervously.  
  
"This is still on for tonight." He said to her, sending her a comforting smile. She smiled back quickly and nervously, and looked back towards the ground.  
  
"I was just thinking," she said, "They don't know about Harry." 


End file.
